Bad Data

[reliarobot]

From waffle-iron on tumblr: robotgirl that is running on like 4GB of ram and a faulty hard drive and can't remember anything and needs to be constantly reminded of things it said just yesterday

"What do you mean, faulty? How faulty?"

The mechanic looked at us as we held each other's hands. "If it isn't replaced very soon, it could fracture. She'd be completely wiped except for her short-term storage."

My wife squeezed my hand. "Well, I'm glad we caught it in time! We just need a new drive, right?"

The mechanic hesitated, and I had to turn to face my wife. "I... don't have another drive hookup. To replace my drive, we have to take the current one out." I glanced at the mechanic, and the look in their eyes confirmed my fears. "There's no guarantee of being able to recover the data completely."

My wife grabbed my arms. "What... what does that mean? You- you're going to be okay, aren't you??" Tears welled in her eyes.

"I..." I couldn't look her in the eyes. "Memory is... almost all I am. I'll be... similar, but some things I won't..."

"Will you... still love me?"

"I hope so." I wasn't built to be able to weep, but I grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I might forget... important things. When we met. How you proposed. Our wedding. I'll try to remember. I want to remember! But if the data gets lost..."

My wife sobbed into my shoulder as the reality of the situation came crashing down on her. After a moment, the mechanic softly touched my shoulder. "We need to begin the data recovery process immediately. The longer we wait..."

"I know." I grabbed my wife's hands and held them between us, brushing a kiss against her lips. I gently wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'll see you soon, my love. If I forget, remember for me, okay?"

She sniffled and nodded, and the mechanic led me out of the diagnostic room.